The snow died beneath Takeru's feet as he climbed the rocky slope leading to Kazu-ji Castle. Each step left behind a crimson print—not from his own blood, but from that black fluid leaking out of the wound in his hand, still unhealed.
Ryo, a few paces ahead, suddenly stopped at a narrow bend.
"Look," he whispered, pointing upward.
Bathed in moonlight, the castle resembled a giant corpse. Its crumbling towers jutted out like bones piercing through rotting flesh. But what was more terrifying wasn't the sight — it was the sound. A deep breath reverberated through the stone, as if the building itself were alive.
"Don't go in if you're afraid of ghosts," Ryo said with a grin, though his eyes betrayed real fear.
Takeru didn't respond. Kuroyami no Tsurugi trembled in his hand like a starving dog catching the scent of meat.
---
The castle's massive wooden gate stood wide open, as if it had been waiting for them. Inside was darker than a starless night, yet something shimmered deep within — like the eye of a beast.
"There!" Ryo shouted, pointing into the void.
Before Takeru could think, the shape lunged at him.
It wasn't human. It wasn't even animal. It was a mass of shifting shadow, with too many arms like an octopus, and a single, plate-sized eye floating at its center.
"Give it to me!" the shape shrieked — its voice like a hundred weeping children.
The black sword moved on its own, slicing through one of the shadowy limbs. The creature howled, but the severed arms regrew instantly.
"It feeds on shadows!" Ryo screamed, watching his feet melt into darkness. "Run!"
But Takeru didn't move. The red eye blazed before him, and he felt as though something else had taken control of his body.
"Let me handle this," a voice whispered inside his head.
Suddenly, his hand moved with unnatural speed. The sword traced intricate shapes in the air, weaving what looked like a web of darkness. Then, with a single strike, the massive eye split clean in two.
The creature's scream shook the castle walls. Its arms melted like black wax, and the eye burst into a slick, sticky pool on the floor.
But just before vanishing, it hissed words that would haunt Takeru for the rest of his life:
"He knows you're here… and he's hungry…"
---
In the inner hall of the castle, where the air was heavier than water, they found the man seated on the bone throne.
It wasn't a true throne — it was a mound of human skulls, fused together with some black substance. And the man… wasn't quite a man.
"Welcome, bearer of Kuroyami," the figure rasped, his voice like gravel grinding inside a millstone.
His skin was so translucent that Takeru could see black veins slithering beneath it like worms. And when he opened his mouth to speak, there was no tongue — instead, a miniature sword grew from the roof of his mouth.
Ryo trembled behind Takeru.
"This... this was a bad idea," he muttered.
But the creature laughed, and the little blade in his throat rattled like a serpent's fang.
"You came because you want to know, didn't you?" he said, staring straight into Takeru's red eye. "You want to know why the sword chose you."
He raised one unnaturally long hand and pointed to a shadowed corner. There, etched on the wall, was a mural depicting seven black swords encircling a single figure.
"Kuroyami no Tsurugi is just one of the Seven. Each sword has its bearer… and each bearer their fate."
The veins in his face suddenly pulsed, as if something were crawling beneath the skin.
"And your fate... is to meet Kazuya."
As he spoke the name, every candle in the hall snuffed out — and all that remained was the red eye of Takeru, glowing like a demonic ember in the dark.